Pet Milk: a story by Stuart Dybek

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In this short story from his latest book The Start of Something, Guggenheim fellow and O Henry Award-winning writer Stuart Dybek takes a Proustian delight in condensed milk

Today I’ve been drinking instant coffee and Pet milk, and watching it snow. It’s not that I enjoy the taste especially, but I like the way Pet milk swirls in the coffee. Actually, my favourite thing about Pet milk is what the can opener does to the top of the can. The can is unmistakable – compact, seamless looking, its very shape suggesting that it could condense milk without any trouble. The can opener bites in neatly, and the thick liquid spills from the triangular gouge with a different look and viscosity than milk. Pet...